Melissa Beattie had dreamed of becoming a high school principal.
She’s doing just that at Lathrop High.
Beattie, who spent the previous year as assistant principal at the school under now retired LHS Principal Greg Leland, is continuing to build on the traditions and culture set forth including Respect the SHIELD – the character program established by her predecessor is an acronym for Spartans Honor Integrity Engagement Leadership Determination.
When the new school year kicked off, the first-year principal was able to comfortably step into her new role. “It helped spending last year with Greg,” Beattie said on Tuesday.
She continued to build on strong relationships with staff, students, and the community. On that first day, Beattie welcomed students by sharing the duties of crossing guard along Spartan Way.
She praised her staff consisting of first-year Assistant Principal Denna Crowe, Vice Principal Heather Anderson, and Vice Principal Athletic Director Chuck Selna for helping with organizing and getting things ready for the upcoming school year.
Beattie, whose husband is Woodward Elementary School teacher and music director Shannon Beattie, has 23 years of experience in education.
She was raised in Stockton and is a graduate at Stagg High. Beattie attended college at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo and began her career as a fourth and fifth grade teacher with Aspire prior to moving over to Stockton Unified – she was active in the teachers’ union and also served as a literacy instructional coach and Peer Assistance and Review instructional coach for K-12 educators, to name a few.
Beattie later became the assistant principal at her alma mater.
She went on from there to serve as the Professional Learning and Curriculum Director at Tracy Unified for six years before moving over to Manteca Unified.
At MUSD, Beattie was principal at Golden West Elementary School, lead negotiator, a California Teachers Association state delegate, a lead reviewer for the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing Introduction Program Accreditation Review, and is certified in Cognitive Coaching.
In addition, she has a masters in Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, and a doctorate in Education Administrative Leadership.
Beattie was especially thrilled a few months ago on becoming principal at Lathrop High, saying: “I am humbled and honored to lead Spartan Nation.”
